Ai Sakura
by The Crystal Hand Alchemists
Summary: PG13 for safety. When Kenshin takes in a politician's daughter under his wing, what will happen when his dark past comes to haunt him? What happens when her ambitious fiance comes to take back what is rightfully his? PLEASE R&R! NOT A KENSHINOC!


DISCLAIMER: I own no Rurouni Kenshin stuff...even though I just went to this cute little anime store with this adorable little pin of Kenshin!

A/N: okie dokie, ya'll...once again, I am bored out of my mind and feel like starting up another chapter fic, so here it is! I know it's another OC, but for some reason I find it kind of hard to write about the original characters...

Weirdness...

Anyway, this fic will probably suck too cuz I haven't really thought about it for awhile (basically since the show ended on CN. Which is probably another reason why this will suck is because I haven't seen the show in like forever and I can't remember a lot of it; I need to rent the movie or something...)

NOTE: this fic will take place throughout the season (or at least through the ones I saw) and most of the chapters later on will go along with the episodes...

But not for now! Now it's just my ideas non stop!

THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE AN OC/KENSHIN FIC! IF ANYTHING, IT MIGHT BE A SLIGHT OC/YAHIKO!

NO FLAMES PLEASE, JUST CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISM! AND I'M SERIOUS THIS TIME!

_Thoughts_

_Petals of Sakura_

:The Forgotten:

A faint breeze skipped across the wooden flooring, dragging the forgotten petals of the Sakura blossoms with it. Birds sang in the boughs of the trees above and soared in the heavens beyond. But the busy sounds of the world beyond were muffled by the wall that ran along the property; blocking any means of reality from the quiet home...

All was quiet within the large house except for the quiet humming of a single girl standing among the falling blossoms.

Her ebony black hair rolled along her back to nearly the length of her waist and danced in front of her deep azure eyes. She wore a simple kimono dyed in hues of blue and periwinkle with a single crimson ribbon around her middle.

She stared up into the sky and watched as the clouds rolled above. The girl hummed softly with the wind and let the breeze tousle her silky black hair as it flowed behind her like a cloak.

Alone she was in the yard as well as the rest of the house. No one was there with her to share in her song, nor were they there to keep her company.

But then again, it was like that on most days, anyway...

She stared at the petals that drifted down toward her and she let them tangle themselves in her hair. The Sakura blossoms danced along her feet and across her face as the wind picked up once more.

But it would have been stronger above her, where the wall met with the sky...

The girl's temptation finally took hold of her and she looked around the yard warily before slipping off her sandals and laying them next to the tree.

She nimbly lifted herself off the ground and onto one of the lower branches. The girl pulled herself onto the limb and hung there for a moment in a rather ungraceful way as she stared at the wall above. It was her way to freedom out of this god-forsaken hell hole.

And as she climbed, her mind reeled with the faint memories that had shaped the days of this life of imprisonment...

"_Sakura! Sakura hurry, come here!" Matsu hissed as he gestured to his sister quickly._

_The young, raven-haired girl hastily obeyed and clung to her brother's side. Sakura whimpered fearfully and huddled into his chest as he placed a protective arm around her. The sound of clashing swords and cries of anguish could be heard from outside of the brush._

_The two children listened in a horror-filled awe as one by one their father's soldiers fell to the ground; defeated, until only their father was left standing._

_A look of pure terror crossed the man's eyes as he stared back at his foe...The tall red-haired man with the hard gray eyes, piercing like the steel of his blade._

_Sakura quickly glanced through the leaves of the bush and watched tearfully as her father trembled unarmed before the Legendary Battousai..._

_And without a single word, the red-haired man charged with speed quicker than lightning, his sword suddenly protruding from their father's chest. Blood spilled to the earth from his wound as he stared wide-eyed into the starry heavens above._

_Matsu forced his hand over Sakura's mouth to keep her from crying out in anguish as the Battousai withdrew his weapon and their father tumbled to the ground in a frozen death._

_The red-haired man stood there, triumphantly, his cold gray eyes staring at the fallen soldiers and at the man he had last murdered. And for the briefest moment, the two young ones could have sworn that his gaze fell upon their hiding spot...but just as quickly, he adverted his gaze...and walked away..._

_The moment he was out of sight, Sakura dashed out from behind the brush, to the dismay of her older brother._

_But she did not heed him and quickly raced to her father's side._

"_Papa..." she murmured and hugged his lifeless body close to her, letting his blood drench her in a crimson veil..._

Sakura winced as she recalled the memory and as she lifted herself higher onto the tree trunk. It was just supposed to be a ride through the countryside that night...but their carriage had been attacked and she and her brother had been rushed into a hiding place to watch as every one of their protectors fell.

Only a month or two afterwards, their mother died of a broken heart, and Matsu was left to take the place of his father in the government (A/N: now don't ask me specifics, I'm not a historian and I don't really know much about the government in Japan...) And although he was still young, he was astute and knew his place well...

But this also left him with the job of finding a proper suitor for his sister.

The girl sighed as she began to reach the top and thought back on the distasteful reminiscence...

_Matsu paced restlessly across the floorboards. His sister stood obediently before him and lowered her eyes to the ground._

_Her brother turned to her after a moment and forced a smile to elude his nervousness, "Now, Sakura...I want you to behave, is that clear?" he ordered gently, "Kozue is a very powerful man, Father would have been very happy for you..."_

_The girl nodded slowly and hung her head. So this is what it felt like to be betrothed? She thought to herself as she clasped her hands in front of her. It felt awkward to hardly enter adulthood and yet she was already to be married!_

_The older boy grinned reassuringly and tucked a plait of her hair behind her ear fondly, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I will always be here if you need me," he whispered as if it were a well-kept secret._

_His sister forced a weak smile just as one of the maids stepped forward, addressing the arrival of her fiancé._

_He nodded briskly and turned back to the girl, "Are you ready?" he asked, a little out of breath._

_Once more his sister nodded, "Hai," she insisted sternly while her nerves suddenly started to flutter in the pit of her stomach. _

_Matsu shook his head and turned as the guest entered their presence._

_But Sakura had to sustain a choke of surprise as Kozue approached. The man looked nearly three times her age _(A/N: okay people, right now, let's say she's about twelve or something...cuz for the rest of the fic, she should be thirteen...) _with streaks of silver running through his hair and creases lined the corners of his eyes and mouth. He surely must have been handsome at a time, but now, his age had finally caught up with him diminishing all thoughts of youth. His cold black eyes sent a chill down the girl's spine._

_Kozue gave her brother a slight nod and then turned his attention to his sister, "So this must be the fine Sakura I have heard about!" he said with a grin that was not enough to ease the fear within the girl. _

_He seemed to stare at her for the longest time, as if searching for something in her eyes. But Sakura couldn't take it for much longer; the harness of his eyes seemed chilling like a night of coming winter._

_And just as she was about ready to pull away, Matsu intercepted and at once he began his long speech on politics and the current government much to the relief of his sister. But Kozue seemed hardly interested, seeing that his bright black eyes turned back on her as she followed warily behind..._

Sakura heaved herself onto one of the final branches so that she was able to stare out over the wall. It brought joy to her to see the bustling town beyond, with all of its shops and busy people; it never seemed to bore her just to watch them from the shelter of her home. Even if she longed to leap from the wall and run about the streets...even to run with the boys who would practice their sword fighting with sticks they discovered along the side of the streets...

Gods, how she longed to be among them...and as she thought back on her father; on his death, she realized how much she longed to avenge him...to take up sword-fighting on her own...

_Then what's stopping you?_ A voice in her head inquired.

She thought on this with a sly smile...what _was_ stopping her?

And after taking a final look around the yard and making sure no one was there to watch her, she nimbly stepped onto the stone wall...

And jumped into the world below.

A/N: yes, it sucked, and I'm sorry it was so short. It was the first chapter people, so sue me...

BUT THIS IS NOT THE TOMOE (I think there was one) FROM THE SERIES!

But I will try and post the next chapter soon! As well as the next chapter for Fire Dancer! Please hang in there!

PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!

NO FLAMES! I haven't seen the show in like forever, and this is my first Rurouni Kenshin fic, so don't hate me!

Ciao!


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